French star Catherine Deneuve will receive an honorary Golden Lion at the 79th Venice Film Festival, which will be held from August 31 to September 10, the Mostra, the oldest film festival in the world, announced on Wednesday.
“It is a joy to receive this prestigious award at the Venice Film Festival, which I love and have known for a long time, since beautiful day by Luis Buñuel had received the Golden Lion”responded the 78-year-old actress, quoted in the festival press release.
It was the director of the Mostra, Alberto Barbera, who proposed to the board of directors of the Biennale, which manages the Mostra, to give Catherine Deneuve this award. Quoted in the festival press release, Alberto Barbera salutes “an eternal diva, a true icon of the big screen (…) appearing among the greatest performers in the history of cinema”.
He too recalls the Golden Lion won by beautiful day in 1967, as well as her Volpi cup for best actress won for Place Vendôme by Nicole Garcia in 1998, still on the Lido.
Alberto Barbera also emphasizes “the artistic collaborations (of the actress) with some of the most important European actors and directors: Roger Vadim, Jacques Demy, Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut, Roman Polanski, Marco Ferreri, Marcello Mastroianni and Gérard Depardieu”.
During her long career, Catherine Deneuve has received numerous awards, including two Césars for best actress (in 1981 for The Last Metro by François Truffaut and in 1993 for Indochina by Régis Wargnier, also an Oscar for best foreign film), a Palme d’honneur at Cannes in 2005, as well as the Silver Bear for best artistic contribution at Berlin in 2002 for eight women by Francois Ozon.